Welcome Back
by w0nderstruck-x
Summary: Katniss moves back to District 12 after her father died in a car accident and she starts attending District 12 High School. Will her life remain the same? Or will she meet some new people that change it forever?
1. Chapter 1

**Quick note for you all:**

**This is my first FanFic, so please be easy. I know this chapter is a little slow, but I promise it will get better!(: I suck at summaries by the way, so please don't mind that. I hope you all enjoy! (:**

**DISCLAIMER: I am not Suzanne Collins ; therefore I do not own the Hunger Games or any of it's amazing characters. (:**

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"Katniss! Wake up; we're going to be late for our first day!" Prim said as she jumped up and down on my bed.

"Huh-wha-?" I said as I opened my eyes.

"We're going to be late! Mom has breakfast ready downstairs, you need to get changed! I laid some clothes out for you. You're welcome," she said as she walked out of my room.

Slowly, I got up out of my bed.

I looked over at the rocking chair in my room and saw the outfit that Prim had laid out for me. It was a pair of jean shorts that ended mid-thigh and had rips in them, and a dark green, plain t-shirt.

I put on my clothes, brush my teeth, washed my face, and then pulled my hair back into a loose braid that fell over my shoulder.

Today is my first day at a new school here in District 12. I used to live here, but then I moved to District 2 for a job that my father was offered. But after 10 years of living there, he was killed in a tragic car accident, and I still can't talk about it to this day. Finally, after about 2 more years, we finally decided to move back here because being in Two just reminded us all of him, and we didn't need that sadness.

I walked downstairs and joined my mother and sister at the table.

"Are you excited for today, Katniss?" my mother asked me as I ate some toast.

"I mean, I guess. I don't really see what there is to be excited about. No one is going to like me."

"Katniss, honey, don't say that! You are a lovely girl. You have to be more confident in who you are. They're going to love you!"

"Yeah, whatever…" I mumbled.

"Well you girls better get going. You have to walk there, and it's already 7," my mother said.

As we were standing up she then said, "Oh and Katniss… Make sure you pick Prim up at the end of the day! You two can walk home together too."

"Okay," I simply said as she came to hug us both.

"Have fun today girls."

Prim and I walked out the front door and started heading down the street.

"I'm so excited Katniss! I'm going to get to meet so many new people! And so are you, that is if you talk to people! Katniss, please try and be social here. It's a new start. I hate seeing you alone all the time, it makes me worry," she said as she turned to me and frowned a little bit.

"I will little duck, just for you."

"Thanks Katniss. They're going to love you!" she smiled as we walked up to the front of her school.

I kissed the top of her head, and then said goodbye as I started heading towards the High School.

I started get more and more nervous and I got closer, but I really didn't have anything to worry about. I barely even talked, so I would go through the whole school year without being noticed, and that would keep me out of drama and everything else. But I promised Prim I would try to make friends.

I sighed as I walked up the path to the entrance and reached to pull the door open, the moment I have been dreading for weeks.

_This is going to be a long day. _

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**Well, there you are! Chapter 1. I know it was a bit slow, but as I said before, I pinky promise that it will get better! (:  
Please review! It would mean the world to me.**

**Thanks for readingg (: x**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated. I've been super busy. But here you are! And it's much longer than the first one! And hopefully better? I worked hard on this chapter and I really hope you like it. Also, thankyou to everyone who added this story to their favorites/alerts, or reviewed, it honestly made me so happy! & I'll try not to make this one of those 'cliche hunger games highschool' stories(: x  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Hunger Games, or any of it's amazing characters. (: **

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**Peeta POV**

"Dude, have you heard about that new Katpiss girl? Or whatever her name is?" Gale asked me as we sat down in our seats in English.

_'Katpiss? What the heck?' _"Uh… no?"

"Oh, well people have been talking all about her. I need to see this chick. She's probably hideous, I mean with the name Katpiss and all."

I laughed at this.

When I started calming down, Miss Trinket yelled to get everyone's attention, "Class! Please! Settle down!"

I turned in my seat to face the front, and that's when I saw her. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever laid my eyes on.

"Class, this is Miss Katniss Everdeen. She moved all the way here from District 2!"

_'She definatley is no Katpiss.'_

She had perfect features. Her hair was tied into a perfect braid that fell over her right shoulder. She had the most beautiful grey eyes I have ever seen, and her cheeks were a slight touch of pink. All I wanted to do was to untie her hair and just run my hands through it while-

"Mr. Mellark!" my thoughts were cut off by Miss Trinket yelling at me.

I turned my attention back to her just as she started saying, "It seems you have eye for Katniss, here," I could already feel my face starting to burn up, "So you can be her tour guide for the rest of the day."

The class laughed.

I coughed to try and hide my embarrassment. "Uh, yeah, sure…"

_'Was I really staring that much?'_

"Great! Now go on and find a seat dear," Effie directed at Katniss.

I turned over to my group of friends who were silently laughing so they wouldnt get in trouble.

"What?" I asked them.

"Dude, your eyes were glued to her! Trinky up there was trying to get your attention for like, five minutes! You totally want her," my friend Thresh joked.

I felt my face start to burn up again. "I do not!"

"Uh, yeah you do. You can totally tell!" Gale whispered because Miss Trinket started teaching.

"Shut up, I do not!" I said through my teeth.

I normally don't get this mad, but right now it was building up.

I may think that she is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes on, but I didn't want her.

Or did I?

I tried to shake all thoughts of her out of my head, but right when I was about to succeed I turned and looked at her on the other side of the classroom.

There was a loose hair, and she quickly grabbed it and put it back into place. Oh how I wish I could do that for her.

'_No Peeta! You do not like this girl! You don't even know her!'_

To get my mind off of her, I took out my notebook, and started drawing the first thing that came to my mind, and before I knew it the bell rang signaling the end of the period, but also the time for me to start guiding Katniss around the school.

_'Oh boy.'_

* * *

**Katniss POV**

_RINGG_

The bell rang, and I slowly started to pick my books up and put them into my bag.

I got out of my seat and walked towards the door. I suddenly felt a hand softly grab my shoulder. I turned to see who it was and I saw big blue eyes looking at me. The same one's that were staring at me before.

"Hey, I'm Peeta, your tour guide for today," he said with the most breathtaking smile I had ever seen.

"Katniss."

"Nice to meet you, Katniss."

I gave him a small smile.

"So... What's your next class?" he asked me as we walked.

"Umm..." I struggled to open my schedual, "Study Hall with Mr. Abernathy."

"Turns out, that's where I'm going, too. Can I walk you there?" he looked at me hopefully.

"You know, Peeta. You really don't have to guide me around school, it's okay, I'm a big girl."

"Yeah, I know. I was just saying because we both have the same class, so we might as well walk together. But if you don't want to..."

I looked up at him and saw that he had a barely noticable pout on his lower lip.

"Fine."

That pout quickly turned into a smile and he led us to Study Hall.

On our way down the hallway, I noticed a lot, and I mean _a lot, _of girls staring at Peeta, and then looking at me and giving me dirty looks. I'm guessing he's a popular one.

We got to the room where Study Hall was, and he walked a little quicker ahead of me to open the door.

He stood to the side, "Ladies first."

"Thanks." I muttered.

We took a seat at a round table in the back of the room once we were both in the room.

"So, now what?" I asked Peeta looking around the room just to find a teacher passed out on the front desk with a bottle of vodka in his hand.

"Well, that's Mr. Abernathy, but he likes to be called by his first name, Haymitch. But basically he is always drunk, so we can do whatever we want. Like homework, projects, whatever. He's never a bother."

"Oh, okay."

We sat there in an uncomfortable silence for a couple minutes as I was thinking about what Prim had said to me this morning about trying to make friends.

_'I really shouldn't let Prim down, and Peeta doesn't seem like a bad guy. At least he doesn't so far. I need to find out more about this boy.'_

I turned to him, "Want to play the question game?"

He looked at me with a confused look, "The what?"

"The question game. You go back and forth and ask eachother questions."

"Oh, sure." He smiled.

"Okay, I'll go first. What's your favorite color?" I asked him.

"Orange. But not like neon orange. More soft like the sunset."

I smiled at that. He appreciates nature like I do.

"What do you like to do in your spare time?" he asked me.

"Umm.. I like to hunt, and talk to my sister." '_Wow Katniss, way to make yourself look like a complete loser that has no friends.'_

"Hunting? Really? Where did you learn how to hunt?"

My throat felt like it had a huge lump stuck in the middle of it.

"Um, I..." I trailed off. I didn't know if I could talk about my father in school without starting to cry. He was the one who had taught me how to hunt. But ever since he died, it's been very hard to talk about him.

I guess Peeta noticed me becoming uncomfortable, so he said, "You don't have to answer if it's too personal, I completely understand."

"No, no. It's okay." I took a deep breath, "My... dad taught me when I was younger. We used to go every Saturday... but then..."

I choked. I didn't think I could tell him. But his concerned eyes told me that I could trust him.

"But then... He was killed in a car accident."

"Oh, Katniss! I'm so sorry!" he got up and hugged me.

I normally didn't like it when people touched me, but with him I felt comfortable and safe.

"It's ok." I answered simply.

He released me from his huge arms and sat back down. He had a small smile on his face which showed that he actually cared about what I just said. He wasn't an asshole like the boys from District 2 who always used to make fun of me, and bully me.

I tried to release the tension, "So... Do you have a girlfriend?"

He looked up at me through his eyelashes. He actually looked kind of surprised that I asked him that. "No. I don't have a girlfriend."

"Oh. Well it seems like there's a bunch of girls who would kill for that spot."

He looked at me quizically.

"When we were walking here, every girl I saw was staring at you. You must be pretty popoular."

He laughed. "Oh, yeah. People have pointed that out to me. I just ignore them. If they're just going to throw theirselves at me without getting to know me, I don't like them already. I like classy girls, not trashy."

I smiled at him. Finally, I found a boy who actually cares about how girls treat themselves. Peeta isn't like the boys back at District 12 who would sleep with any girl just because they're 'hot'.

He noticed me smiling. "What?" He laughed a little.

"Nothing. It's just, you're so different from the boys in District 2. They would sleep with any girl as long as she fit their standards which was usually tall, blonde, and dumb."

He smiled and laughed loudly causing people to turn and look at us. He then started talking quieter, "I'm not like that at all. Only a couple people here are like that. For example, my friend Gale. He's a good guy, but when it comes to girls he's crazy."

"Looks like I'll be steering clear of him." I laughed.

"Yeah. That would be a smart thing for _you _to do."

_'Why did he put so much emphasis on me? What did he mean by that? Does he think I'm pretty or something? He can't think I'm pretty. Impossible, especially for a boy as good looking as him. You know what, just drop it Katniss!"_

I looked up at him, and tried to change the subject, "So... Do you have a job?"

"Yeah. I work in my families bakery in the merchant area. I bake cakes and decorate them. You should stop by sometime."

"Oh, I don't know..."

"Aw, c'mon Katniss! It would be a lot of fun. I could teach you how to bake and ice stuff."

I thought about it for a while, and my mind instantly flung back to Prim. _Make friends._

I sighed, "Okay."

"Great! When are you free?"

"Whenever you want."

"How's tomorrow after school? Only my brother's and dad will be home. Not my mom, and trust me, you don't want to deal with her. She can be kind of a witch sometimes."

_'A witch?'_ "Sure."

"Great!"

_RIIINGG_

The bell rang, and we started to pack up.

"Now what do you have?" he asked me.

I looked down at my schedual, "History with Mr. Cinna."

"Oh, darn. Don't have that one together. But it looks like we have lunch, gym and science together! So I'll see you those periods."

"Okay"

We walked out of the classroom and waved goodbye to eachother.

I smiled as I started walking down the hallway.

_I think I just made a friend._

* * *

**Peeta POV**

I waved good bye to Katniss and turned to walk down the hall.

I heard loud, quick steps coming up from behind me and I turned to see Gale sprinting down the hallway.

He slowed when he got to me and starting panting. "Hey. Man. I. Need. To. Deliver. You. A message.

"Dude, catch your breath and then you can tell me."

He finally calmed down and said, "Johanna said to meet her in the janitors closet at 10:30"

"Why?"

"So you guys can color in some coloring books." He said with heavy saracasm. "Think a little!"

"Sorry. I mean why would I want to do that?"

"Because Johanna Mason is one of the hottest girls in school! Peeta, if you don't go, I will." He looked at me. "What? Are you still hung up on Katpiss or whatever her name is?"

"It's Katniss." I snapped.

"Katpiss, Katniss, whatever! My point is, you need to get over your little crush, and go get some Johanna!"

_'I can't lead on to him that I actually might like Katniss.'_

"I'll think about it."

"That's my boy. Now hurry or we'll be late for class."

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**Well, there it is! I hope you guys enjoyed! & Sorry if I was skipping around a lot with the POV's. **

**Please review(: Thank you for reading! x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, or any of it's characters.**

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**Peeta POV**

During Miss Portia's lesson about polynomials, I looked up at the clock. _10:25._

I heard Gale try to get my attention from the seat behind me. I turned back and he said, "Bro, you better get going if you're gonna go."

I turned back around and thought to myself. _'I'll just go and tell her I'm not iinterested in doing what she was planning.'_

She needs to know that she cant just throw herself at me.

I looked back at Gale once more, and then back to the front of the class room. I raised my hand and Miss Portia called on me, "Yes Peeta?"

"May I go to the bathroom?"

"Of course. Go ahead."

I got out of my seat, and made my way to the door. I walked down the hallway until I found the janitors closet. I looked around at my surrounding before I turned the handle to go in.

The first thing I saw was a tall, built girl with short dark hair standing in the corner of the closet staring at me with seductive eyes. _Johanna Mason._

She was wearing a tank top that cut very low, and shorts that barely covered her butt. And as for her face, she had so much makeup on that I couldn't even tell if any part of her real skin was showing.

I started reasoning with her, "Johanna look, I-"

I was cut off by her throwing herself across the closet and ontop of me. We both fell to the ground and she stradled my waist. "Hey there, Bread Boy."

"Johanna, stop, I don't want to-"

I, once again, was cut off. She smashed her lips against mine and it hurt. I didn't repond, I just laid there like I was dead, but she didn't care. She shoved her tongue into my mouth and started moving her hands up my stomach. I tried shoving her off of me, but she wouldn't budge. Her lips remained on mine as I stuggled to get her off of me. She had me pinned to the ground by her muscular body, and there was no way I was getting up.

I gripped both hands on her shoulders and finally pushed her so she wasn't kissing me anymore.

"Johanna, stop, now! I didn't come here to do this. I came here to tell you that I don't want to do this, and I'm not interested in you. Okay?"

She looked down at me and smiled evily, "I don't believe that one bit."

"Well you should because it's true. I don't like you."

I built up enough force to softly shove her off me and stand up.

"Goodbye Johanna," I said while swiftly walking out of the closet looking back once just to see her eyes wide open in shock that she was actually turned down by someone.

I walked back into my math class and took my seat in front of Gale.

There was only five minutes left in class, so Miss Portia gave us free time.

I turned around in my seat to face Gale, and he had a huge smirk on his face.

"How was she?"

"We didn't do anything, Gale. I just went there to tell her I'm not interested in her."

"You're kidding? You should've just let me go and satisfy her needs."

"That's disgusting, dude. I didn't need to hear that."

He just laughed and hit my shoulder. I rolled my eyes

The bell rang signaling the end of the period, and we all got up to leave.

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**Katniss POV**

After 3rd period with Mr. Cinna, 4th period flew by and before I knew it, it was time for lunch.

When I walked into the cafeteria all the tables were filled. I didn't know where I was going to sit because the only person I had met today was Peeta. _'Oh boy'_

I looked around for about a minute when I felt a hand tap my shoulder, I turned to see a small, blonde haired girl.

"Hi! I'm Madge, Madge Undersee! You must be new! Do you want to sit with my friends and I?" she chirped.

"Katniss Everdeen." _Make friends Katniss._ "Sure, I'd love to sit with you."

"Great! And nice to meet you, Katniss!"

I followed her over to her lunch table which consisted of three other girls.

"Girls, this is Katniss! Katniss, this is, Delly," she pointed to a girl that had short brown hair and wasn't skinny, but wasn't fat, "Clove," she pointed to a small girl with long black hair, and freckles around her nose, "and Becky." She pointed to a girl with medium length, red hair. **(A/N:** **Becky is supposed to be Foxface*)**

"Hi," I gave them a small wave and sat down.

After about fifteen minutes of making small talk with the girls, they all suddenly stopped talking out of no where. All the girls eyes were open wide, and their mouths were hanging open.

Right when I was about to ask what was wrong, a voice came from behind me, "Hey Katniss."

I turned around just to see Peeta. Is he what all the girls were making a fuss over? "Hey Peeta."

He smiled. "You have Gym next period, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well I was thinking we could walk together, if you'd like."

I thought about it for a moment, do I really want all of those girls' eyes on me? Eh, who cares."Yeah, I'd love to." I gave him a bright smile.

"Great, I'll see you later then." With that he walked away and I turned back to my table only to see that the girls' faces hadn't changed.

"What?" I asked all of them.

Finally Delly spoke up, "You-you know Peeta M-Mellark?"

"Uh, yeah kinda. I only met him this morning though."

"Oh my gosh, Katniss! You're so lucky. I'd give anything to have a conversation with that boy! He's so hot." Delly squealed.

"Katniss! All three of us have had a crush on him since... _Forever!_ And you guys are like, friends! You are so lucky!" Clove then added.

I laughed a little bit at them. I guess I never thought that some decent girls might like Peeta, and right now I was proven wrong. It would be nice for one of them to date him. I think that all three of them would be perfect for a guy like him.

"So do you like him?" Becky asked me.

I looked at her with a confused face, "Uh, W-what? Of course I like him, he's one of the nicest guys I've ever met."

Delly chirped in, "No, Katniss. Not as a friend, we mean, like-like. Cause he sure like-like's you! You can toally tell!"

This took me off guard. "Wha-? I mean-. No. Peeta does not like me!"

"Yes he does! You can totally tell by the way he was looking at you!" Delly said.

"Whatever, guys. Let's just drop it." I said.

"Fine, Katniss. But don't be surprised if he asks you out!" Becky exclaimed.

After about five more minutes of random talk the bell rang, and I got up to go find Peeta.

I saw him standing in the back corner of the cafeteria with two other guys. I decided to just stay where I was and wake for him, that is until he started waving me over.

"Hey Katniss!" Peeta said when I approached him and the two other guys. "These are my friends Thresh and Gale. They have gym with us."

I look at them both. They both were a couple inches taller than Peeta, and they had huge muscles. The one, Gale, and light bronzish hair, and the other one, Thresh, and jet black hair.

"Oh, hey. I'm Katniss."

"Nice to finally meet you, Katniss. Peeta over here wouldn't stop talking about you." Thresh said.

I looked over at Peeta and he was turning a light shade of pink.

"Yeah. But now I can see why." Gale said as he winked at me. It made me a bit uncomfortable.

Peeta looked over at him and it looked like he was going to tear his head off. "Shut up, Gale. You're making her uncomfortable." Could he read my mind or something?

I just smiled and said, "Let's get to gym."

We walked through the halls and even more eyes were on me than before. I guess this is the group of guys that every girl loves, and I just happen to be walking in the middle of it.

As we kept walking, a group of three girls walked past us, and the main girl, by the way they looked, was staring at Peeta. She was tall, and tan with long brown hair. Peeta noticed, and he quickly looked at me and grabbed my hand and intertwined it with his.

I looked at him with a confused look on my face, but something about his said just play along with it, so I did.

Once her group got by us, he let go of my hand. And he gave me a reasurring smile that said, 'I'll explain later'.

When we got to the girls locker room, we parted ways and I walked inside. I was given a pair of gym clothes that were way too small for me, but as the teacher said when she gave them to me, "Sorry, hun. These are the last pair we have."

They were blue shorts that just covered my butt enough, and a tight light blue shirt. _'Wow, I look like a slut. This is awful. I just want sweatpants and a sweatshirt, but no. I get stripper clothes.' _I rolled my eyes and started to head out of the locker room when I was stopped by a group of three girls.

"So you're the girl that Peeta, Gale and Thresh have been walking around with. Well, I'd just like to let you know that Peeta is mine, so you better back off, bitch." One of them said to me. She was the same girl that was staring at us before.

I laughed in her face, "You think that I'm going to _steal_ Peeta from you, when he's not even yours? Funny, he even told me before he doesn't have a girlfriend. You're just making a fool of yourself. And if you're so afraid that you're going to lose him to the new girl, then you definatley need to work on your self esteem issues."

"C'mon Johanna, this brat isn't even worth it. Let's go. " One of the other girls said. _'So this bitch's name is Johanna.'_

With that, all three of them walked out of the locker room, and I followed close behind. As soon as I walked into the gym, I spotted Peeta and walked over to him.

Once I got there, he got one look at my gym clothes, and his eyes basically popped out of his sockets, "H-Hey Katniss."

I rolled my eyes, "Hey."

Gale and Thresh just snickered behing Peeta at his reaction to my clothes.

That day in Gym I met my gym teacher, Mr. Brutus, and we played basketball, which I was awful at, but Peeta was amazing at it.

The last period of the day finally came after I finished changing into my regular clothes, and that was Science, which I had with Peeta.

When I got to class everyone was partnered up at a lab table, and there was only one open, and it was next to Johanna.

I sat down next to her, and she just looked at me and rolled my eyes. I turned in my seat to look at Peeta, and his eyes locked with mine.

I never actually noticed how beautiful they were. They were like big pools of blue water. They were stunning, and I couldn't help get mezmorized as I looked into them. He smiled and looked away, and I did the same.

Our teacher, Mr. Beetee began class. We were learning about genetics. _'Great, I learned this already. This week is going to be a drag.'_

I put my head down on the table, and before I knew it, the bell rang and it was the end fo the school day. _'That was the longest day ever.'_

I went to my locker and shoved all my textbooks in it. As I was walking out the ffront door of the school, I was shoved and I fell to the ground. Everything I was holding scattered around on the floor.

I looked up to see who pushed me, and I saw Johanna and her two friends smirking back at me.

_'Bitch.'_

I started picking everything up when another person came to help me. Peeta. God, why did he have to be so sweet? It's only making me want to like him like something other than a friend even more. _'No Katniss. You do not like Peeta. You know your rules against dating, and marriage! No.'_

I smiled as I got everything back together, "Thanks Peeta."

"No problem," he answered with his beautiful smile. "Can I walk you home?"

I nodded. I know it's not something I would normally do, but I'm actually starting to feel really comfotable around Peeta even though I've only known him for a few hours.

"We just have to pick my sister up at the middle school, then we can go."

He nodded.

When we approached the middle school I saw Prim standing by a tree alone. When she saw me and Peeta walking towards her she immediatley skipped towards us. "Hey Katniss!"

"Hey little duck." I smiled at her. I looked over at Peeta. "This is Peeta."

"Hi Peeta! I'm Primrose! But you can call me Prim." she bounced and gave him a small hug which he gladly returned.

"Nice to meet you Prim."

"Peeta is going to walk home with us today." I explained to her.

"Great!" she said as she started skipping ahead of us.

I looked at Peeta and he was smiling. _Gosh, why did he have to be so cute?_

We walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes when I finally said, "So, you know the girls I was sitting with at lunch today? Madge, Delly, Clove and Becky?"

He looked at me and nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"When you left the table, they had this he-uge squealing fit about you. It was kinda funny."

He laughed loudly. "Oh? And why would they be squealing about me?"

"They said that they you're like, amazing, or something like that."

"And what do you have to say to that?"

"Well, I haven't even known you for a day, but you seem ..._alright_." I said, noting the sarcasm.

He smiled. "Well if it counts, I think you're pretty great."

I felt blush creeping up onto my cheeks. I looked down and said, "Thanks."

"No problem."

I was thinking about earlier today, when he grabbed my hand. "Peeta? Why did you grab my hand when you saw that girl staring at you when we were going to gym?"

We finally reached my house, and I turned to him as he started saying, "Oh that? Um... I'll tell you about it tommorrow."

"Alright. Thanks for walking me home, I could've sworn it would've just been me and Prim because it was my first day and all..."

"Don't worry about it. I had a great time."

"So... I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yes you will. And don't forget after school, you're coming to the bakery!"

"Oh, right. Alright, I'll see you!"

"Bye! And tell Prim I said goodbye!" he said as he walked away waving.

I walked into my house and I saw Prim sitting there. As soon as she saw me she jumped up and hugged me, "Oh Katniss! I'm so proud of you! You made a friend!"

I laughed. "I made a few actually!"

"Katniss! That's great!"

"I guess. How about you little duck. Did you make any new friends?"

"Yes! I made a lot! They were all so nice to me!"

"That's great."

"Yes, it sure is."

She got up and started walking up the steps to her room to do her homework when she turned around and look at me. "Oh, and Katniss?"

I looked up at her. "Yes?"

"I approve."

"Of what?"

"Peeta. He definatley likes you! And you two would be so cute!"

"W-why does everyone keep saying that? Peeta does not like me!"

"Katniss, you're blind if you don't see the way he looks at you! You can tell he's crazy for you even though you've only known him a couple hours! Just think about it Katniss." And with that she walked up the stairs.

_'Peeta definatley does not like me. There's no way! I mean he's sweet and all, but he's way too popular to fall for a girl like me. Right? And even if he did, and he were to ask me out... I'd say no. I mean it's not like I like him..._

_Or do I...?_

* * *

**Ahh! Cliffhanger! (; I can honestly say, I've always wanted to do that!**

**Once again, thank you to the amazing people who added me to their favorites/alerts, or reviewed, you guys literally inspire me to keep writing c:  
So yeah! I hope you all enjoyed. Please review!  
**

**Thank you for reading!(: x**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hi guys! So before I say anything else, I just needed to say I am _so_ sorry this chapter is insanely overdue... But I had finals, and I really needed to do well on them, but now they're over so I promise I will update more frequently! Anways, here is Chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games**

* * *

**Katniss POV**

"Katniss! Wake up!" Prim, yet again, screamed into my ear.

"Huh? I'm up! I'm up!" I said startled.

"You need to hurry up and get ready, we have to leave in an hour!"

"Fine." I grumbled and got up.

I took a quick shower, brushed my teeth and hair.

I walked back into my bedroom and looked for something to wear.

_Oh, right. I'm going to Peeta's after school today. I need to at least try and look presentable._

I searched through my drawers until i found skinny jeans and a light purple, flowy tank top. I quickly braided my hair and put on white flip flops.

i ran downstairs grabbed some toast and headed out the door with Prim.

"Why do you look so nice today?" she asked me.

"What do you mean?"

"You look... girly. I don't know. But you look nice."

"Oh, well thanks." I smiled at her.

We reached her school and I said goodbye to her and that's when I remember again that i was going to Peeta's after school.

"Oh, hey Prim?"

"Yeah?" she turned around.

"I'm going to Peeta's house after school today... Do you think you'll be okay walking home alone?"

She smirked. "I'll be fine Katniss. At least now I know why you're all dressed up. Have fun!"

And with that she walked away and was quickly surrounded by a group of people.

I sighed and started heading to my school.

_She's one crazy little duck._

* * *

The school day went by in a blur and before I knew it I was at my locker with Peeta getting ready to go to his house so he could teach me how to bake.

"So are you excited?" he asked me.

"About what?"

"Learning how to bake!"

I laughed and gave him a small smile. "Of course I am!"

With that we started walking out of the school and to his bakery.

"So how was your second day of school?" he asked trying to make conversation as we were walking.

"I mean, I guess it was okay. This school is so much better than the one I used to go to in District 2. I mean all the teachers there didn't care, _all_ the girls were sluts, and all the guys were jerks. But here it's different. _Most_ of the girls aren't sluts, and the guys from what I've seen seem pretty nice." I nudged his arm, and that made him smile.

"Well thank you Miss Everdeen, you're pretty nice yourself."

I smiled at that. No one has ever told me that. Back in District 2 I was always know as the girl with no friends, the loner. I was basically a loser. But here, I felt like I was welcome.

"Here we are!" Peeta said as we walked up to a building that had a huge sign that read _Mellark Bakery_ on it.

We walked inside and put our school bags down.

"Do you want anything to drink?" he offered.

"No thanks, I'm good."

_I can't believe I'm in Peeta Mellark's home. Ew, that makes me sound really stalkerish. But he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met and the fact that I am actually becoming friends with him is amazing._

_"_So... What are we gonna be baking?" I asked him.

"Probably a bit of everything because it's just me to run the shop for the next three days. My two brothers and my dad are in the Capitol for some meeting, and my mom is who knows where, so it's just me for now."

I nodded.

"Let's get to work!" he exclaimed as he handed me an apron.

"What first, boss?" I teased.

He thought about it for a minute.

"We'll make some bread first, start out easy for you."

"Sounds good."

He lightly floured the surface of the counter and he started to show me how to knead the bread. It was a little confusing so when he asked me if I wanted to try I was a bit hesitant.

"C'mon Katniss, I'll help you." he said with that award winning smile.

"Okay.." I said still a bit unsure of myself.

I walked over to the counter and poked to dough and it was so squishy it made me laugh.

"What's so funny?" Peeta smiled.

"It's squishy."

This made him burst out laughing, and the sound of him laughing made me laugh.

We ended up laughing for about five minutes before we actually started to calm down.

"Okay, here I'll help you."

He walked up behind me and places his hands on my hands in front of me.

"Is this okay?" he asked me.

My breathing rate was increasing because of how close he was so I just managed to get out, "Mmhmm."

He laughed and he started moving our hands.

I was barely doing anything because I didn't think I could move because of how close he was to me.

By this point his chest was pressed up against my back, but after a few minutes he stepped away letting me knead the dough by myself which I actually got the hang of.

But as soon as he let go, I immediately felt cold. It was like his body was a space heater, it was just so warm and welcoming.

After about five more minutes of kneading he said that it was enough and he cut them into loaves and stuck them into the ovens.

He turned to me and started laughing.

"What?" I asked him.

"You have... You have flower on your face." He was cracking up.

He walked over to me and put his hand up to the spot the flower was on and tried to wipe it off but instead he put more flower on me.

"Oh. It's on Mellark."

For the next ten minutes we threw flour and all sorts of ingredients at each other. We were a mess. We both had flower and icing all over our clothes and faces.

We were b oth sitting on the group laughing when he said we should change our clothes.

"But I don't have extra clothes with me..." I said.

"Don't worry. I have some clothes that don't fit me anymore."

We both got up and I followed him to his room above the bakery.

His room was plain and had a small bed in the corner of it, and a desk in the opposite corner. It was kind of cozy.

I walked across the room and sat on the edge of his bed as he looked for clothes for us to wear.

He threw mea pair of basketball shorts and a sweatshirt.

"Uh, the bathroom's right through that door over there." He pointed.

"Okay thanks." I walked over and closed the door behind me. I put Peeta's clothes on which were still a little big on me, but not by a lot. I pulled my hair out of it's braid and let it fall down to the middle of my back.

I turned the door knob to go back into Peeta's room and as soon as I walked in I immedeatley froze. He was standing there looking for a shirt with just a pair of sweatpants on.

He must have noticed me staring because he said, "You like what you see, Everdeen?" He flexed his arm muscles.

_Oh my sweet baby Jesus. That boy has the nicest muscles, and oh my goodness, his abs..._

I just laughed it off even though I could feel myself blushing. "You wish, Mellark."

We walked back down stairs into the kitchen where we made a huge mess.

"We'll clean this up in a little while... Do you want some water?"

"Sure." i said as I sat down on a stool in the middle of the kitchen.

A minute later he came back with two cups of water and set them down on the table in front of us.

"So, how did you like baking?" he asked me.

I laughed. "All I did was knead bread, but I had fun."

He smiled. "Well I'm glad."

After a few moments of a comfortable silenced I finally remembered the hand holding.

"Hey Peeta?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you grab my hand in the hallway yesterday?"

"Or right, that. Well... Earlier that day, that girl you saw, Johanna, she asked me to meet her in the janitors closet. So I did. But before you get the wrong impression, i did it just to tell her that I didn't want to do what she wanted to do and that I wasn't interested in her... But then she didn't believe me and I basically had to force her off of me. So then later that day when we saw her, I thought she would leave me alone if she saw I was taken by someone else... But I'm not trying to use you, I just wanted her to leave me alone."

"Oh... It's okay, I completely understand." I gave him a reassuring smile.

I took a sip of my water and I heard the front door swing open with a loud bang.

"Peeta Mellark!" a lady's voice yelled.

"Oh no..." Peeta mumbled.

"Wha-?" I barely got out before a lady came storming into the room.

She looked around the room for a brief moment and then looked at Peeta and I.

"What is the meaning of this? Who is this girl? Peeta Mellark, you are dead."

He looked at her with frightened eyes, and I got up out of my seat not knowing what to do.

She walked over to a nearby counter and picked up a spatchula.

"WHAT IS THAT GIRL DOING HERE PEETA? HMM?" She screamed at him, clearly aggravated that he hasn't answered her yet.

"She's my friend mom." He answered through gritted teeth.

"No she is not. Not any more. She is not welcome back here! She is trash. Just look at her. And she made a mess of our home!"

"Mother, do not talk about her like that!" he screamed back at her, standing up.

She looked shocked, "How _dare_ you raise your voice at me!"

She took a step forward and brought her arm with the spatchula in her hand back, and before I knew it she whipped it forward right across Peeta's face and he went crashing to the ground.

"Peeta!" I screamed.

I ran over and sat next to him. I grabbed his face and looked at it. It was already starting to swell up.

"Oh my gosh.." I could feel tears starting to roll down my cheeks.

I turned around to face his mother and she was staring at me with angry eyes.

"You! Get out of my house! And _never_ come back!" she screamed.

I grabbed Peeta and picked him up and we quickly walked out of the store.

We walked and walked until I had no idea where I was.

We ended up in a small meadow and I had noticed that not one of us had spoken a word.

We sat down next to each other in a patch of grass.

"Peeta..." I whispered.

"Katniss, I am so sorry you had to see that..."

"Peeta, there's nothing to be sorry about. I'm just glad I was there to get you out of there."

He looked up at me and I saw his face was all swelled up on the left side.

"Oh my gosh, Peeta! Your face!" I cried.

"Katniss... Really, I'm fine.. It's nothing new.." he said quietly.

"You mean she's done that to you before? Peeta, you need to tell somone! Please, I can't stand seeing her hurt you!"

"No Katniss, I can't tell anyone... It'll just get worse. You're the only one who know about it besides my family... I'm begging you, please don't tell anyone."

I looked at him in the eyes. His bright blue eyes. One was half shut because of the swelling and the other one was just brimming with tears.

"I promise I won't tell anyone."

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in for a hug.

I rested my cheek on his chest. And I heard him silently sob.

_Peeta didn't deserve any of this. He didn't deserve such an awful mother, and he sure does not deserve being abused like that. He was too amazing, sweet, kind-hearted, caring... The list could go on forever. He really was just amazing, and I did not want to lose him._

We sat in each others arms for another fifteen minutes and then he pulled back.

"Thankyou, Katniss. Thankyou for being here for me."

"What are friends for?" I smiled at him, and he smiled back.

I really don't want to lose the Boy with the Bread.

* * *

**A/N: There you go! Please review it means the world to me! And I'm sorry for any mistakes. Chapter 5 should be up within the next two - three days! **

**Thanks for reading! xx**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hey guys, here's the next chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own the Hunger Games. **

* * *

**Katniss POV**

**_4 Months Later_**

Ever since that day Peeta and I have been best friends. He's there when I need him, he always makes me laugh, he's great. No one knows about his mom except me still, and I tend to keep that way because I made a promise. For the next three weeks Him, Madge, Delly, Clove, Thresh, Gale and I are going on vacation to District 4, and we plan on having the best time. All of my girl friends have finally gotten used to Peeta's presence and have completely moved on to whoever, so this vacation won't be filled with screaming girls. This vacation will be good because it will get Peeta away from his mother for a while and let him have some fun. I can't stand seeing him hurt. I love him so much. But just as a friend ...

_I think_.

* * *

I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock going off. I hit the snooze button and sat up.

Today was the day I was leaving to go to District 4 with my best friends.

I got out of bed and did the usual morning routine.

I put on a pair of shorts and a blue tank top and braided my hair back.

I grabbed my suitcase I had packed the night before and dragged it down the stairs and left it by the front door.

I walked into the kitchen and I saw my mother and Prim eating breakfast.

"Good morning, Katniss," my mother said.

"Hey mom. Morning Prim."

"Hiya Katniss!" she smiled.

"Are you excited for your trip, dear?" my mother asked.

"Of course I am! How could I not be. It's going to be so much fun... Being with my best friends and going to the beach... I can't wait."

"That's great honey. Now, no funny business while you're there. I don't want you coming back pregnant or anything."

"Ew, mom! I would never, I'm nothing like that."

"I know, I know. I'm just reminding you... "

"Mom, you don't need to remind me! Don't worry!"

"I know. And I trust that you'll make the right choices. Just when you and Peeta are alone...-"

"_Mom! Ew!_ He is my best friend nothing more! Ew. Ew. _Eeeww!" _I felt my cheeks burn up more than they ever have before.

I heard Prim giggle in the background at my reaction to that.

I heard a car honk outside, that was Peeta.

I got up and gave my mother and Prim a hug and kiss and I went to the front door, "Love you guys!" I shouted as I walked out.

I threw my bag into Peeta's trunk and hopped into the front seat.

"Good morning, tomato face!" Peeta exclaimed as he pulled out of my driveway and started to drive to the train station.

"Huh?" I looked in the mirror. My face was still bright red from my mothers comment at the table.

Peeta laughed.

"I was rushing around my house trying to do last minute things... So..."

"Oh," he smiled.

God I loved that smile.

"So are you excited?" he asked me.

"Of course! What's not to be excited about? Beaches, bonfires, swimming, hot guys in bathing suits...-"

"I do look pretty good in a bathing suit don't I?" he smiled.

I snorted and hit his arm, "Yeah, okay!"

He laughed, "That hurts inside Katniss, really really hurts." He pretended to look sad.

I just kept on laughing. Five minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of the train station. All of our friends were standing at the entrance waiting for us.

We got out of the car and Peeta handed me my bag, "Thanks Bread face."

"Anytime, Katpiss."

I glared at him, and he just laughed.

We walked over to our friends.

"About time! We thought you guys got lost or something!" Delly said.

"Sorry! Katniss took forever to get out of her house..." Peeta said looking at me.

I stuck my tongue out at him and we all started walking to the train.

We gave our tickets to the man at the entrance and boarded the train.

It was Delly, and I with Peeta in between us on one bench, and Madge, Cloves, Thresh and Gale on the one across from us.

We put our carry on bags in between all of us.

The train ride was supposed to be about six hours.

Great. Six hours of listening to all these people. I laughed at myself. I loved all of them so much.

"Hey Katniss? You cracking yourself up over there?" Thresh joked.

"Yup." I smiled back at him.

I put my head back and closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

* * *

**Peeta POV**

I looked down at Katniss. Her head was on my lap, and she was sound asleep. She looked so beautiful when she slept. I wish I could just tell her that.

"Peeta," Gale said and pulled my attention away from Katniss.

"Hmmm?" I said.

"Grow some balls, and tell her how you feel already!"

"Wha-What are you talking about? I do not like Katniss? She's my best friend."

Delly scoffed next to me. "_Pa-lease _Peeta, we all see the way you look at her."

I look across from me and saw everyone nodding their heads.

"I honestly don't know what you guys are talking about. Katniss is my friend, and only my friend. I like her as nothing more."

"Dude, you say her name in your sleep. Tell me you don't like her now." Thresh said.

"I .. What?" I stuttered.

Thresh just nodded. "Yeah. Whenever you and Gale would stay at my house and we'd be sleeping you'd be all like, '_Katniss..._" he said with a sleepy expression on his face.

Everyone laughed silently and I could feel my cheeks get a little hot. I had, had dreams about Katniss, but not in a gross way.. Just like normal dreams.

"Whatever." I replied.

"C'mon Peeta, just tell her. She likes to too you know." Clove said with an encouraging smile.

"Oh my gosh. I don't like Katniss!" I said.

"Yeah, whatever." Gale said.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep for the remaining forty five minutes we had but it didn't work out too well.

* * *

**Katniss POV**

My deep sleep was interrupted by Clove yelling, "Wake up! We're in District 4!"

I opened my eyes and I saw that my head was on Peeta's lap. Whoops.

I looked up at him and saw that he was wide awake and so was everyone else.

I can't believe I slept that whole train ride.

I sat up and smiled at everybody.

Peeta looked at me and said, "Have a good sleep?"

"Sure did." I smiled at him. "Your lap was a very comfortable pillow."

I heard Gale and Thresh snicker in the background so I turned to them and said, "Oh would you shut up you little perverts!"

They just laughed even louder at this.

I stood up and grabbed my carry-on from the ground and everyone else did the same.

We walked to the exit and as soon as we exited the cart my nose was instantly filled with the smell of salt water.

I look around and all I saw was bright blue skies, and gorgeous beaches.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Madge squealed.

We walked out of the train station and found the car that we had rented for the vacation and we all piled in and started driving to the house.

AFter about a half an hour we finally made it to the house. And may I say, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

It was two floors with 7 rooms, 2 on the first floor and 5 on the top floor, and there were three shared bathrooms, one on the bottom floor and two on the top floor, and one private one in the master bedroom. I can't wait to see the fight over that room.

Peeta and I ended up with the rooms on the first floor, and the rest of our friends were on the top floor, and Clove ended up getting the master bedroom.

I walked to my room and put all my stuff in the drawers that were in there. I walked into the bathroom and out the other side into Peeta's room. It looked similar to mine, but it was blue instead of green. "Hey Peeta."

"Oh, hey Katniss!"

"I'm gonna take a shower so don't come in."

He laughed. "Alright. I'm gonna start cooking dinner."

"Okay!"

I walked back into my room and grabbed my shower necessities and walked back into the bathroom, I closed both doors and hopped in.

Once I got out, I dried off and threw on a pair of soccer shorts, and a white t-shirt. I let my hair fall down to my lower back instead of putting it in it's usual braid.

I walked out of my room and into the kitchen where I saw everyone eating dinner.

"Hi Katniss!" Delly said.

"Hey guys."

I take a seat at the table next to Madge and look in front of me. Peeta made Pasta and meatballs! Yum.

I put some on my plate and dug in. It was one of the most delicious things I had ever eaten. I moaned with satisfaction. "Peeta this is amazing."

"Thanks!" he smiled at me.

Everyone else finished up there meals and we decided to go to bed since it was getting late, and we were gonna be leaving early in the morning to go to the beach.

"Night everyone!" Peeta and I said to everyone that was walking upstairs while we walked to our rooms that were around the corner from the kitchen.

Peeta and I brushed out teeth together and then said goodnight.

I laid in bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Katniss!" I jumped up out of my bed to someone screaming my name. I looked over at my clock and it was only three in the morning.

I listened again and I heard screaming, it was Peeta.

I ran through the bathroom into his room and I saw him on his bed thrash around.

"Katniss!" he was sleeping.

I jumped onto his bed and sat down next to him and I tried to wake him up. "Peeta!" I lightly rubbed his shoulder.

"Peeta wake up. It's okay."

He stopped thrashing and his eyes started to flutter open. He looked up at me through his blonde hair.

"Peeta, it's okay. I'm here."

He sat up in his bed and just looked at me. I rubbed his shirtless back to try and calm him down.

He then grabbed me in his arms and hugged me. "Katniss, it was so real. They were trying to take you."

"Who was trying to take me?"

"I don't know... But they tried to take you away from me..."

"Peeta, sh, it's okay. I'm right here."

We sat in each other's arms for about ten minutes when he sighed and leaned back. He smiled at me. "You know, you're my best friend."

I smiled, "I kinda guessed. Are you okay now?"

He nodded. I started to get up and head back to my room when he grabbed my hand, I felt sparks.

I looked back at him, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Katniss... Um.. Do you think you could... um... stay in here ... for tonight?" I could tell he was embarrassed asking this, but I honestly didn't mind staying with him one bit.

"Of course Peeta." I smiled at him and crawled back into the bed.

"Thank you." he whispered.

I laid down next to him and pulled myself under his covers. He slowly scooted himself closer to me, wrapped his arms around me, and pressed his bare chest up against my back. I smiled. I felt so warm and safe.

"Goodnight Peeta."

"Goodnight Katniss."

And with that I slowly drifted off into the most peaceful sleep I have ever had.

* * *

**Alright, hey guys. I hope you enjoyed! As usual please review! (: Anyways, I have two IMPORTANT things for you guys.**

**1. ) I might not be able to update for the next week and a half. I'm going to be on vacation so I don't know if my laptop will work will I'm going, but I'm going to try my best and still bring my laptop, just don't expect much. Sorry ):**

**2.) If any of you guys know of any good like "High School Hunger Games" stories, if you know what I mean, could you please tell me them? Because I have been looking for some good ones to read, but I'm not being very successful at that. So if you know of any, please let me know!**

**Thanks for reading, I love you all! x **


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